Systems and methods for avoiding interruptions from network-connected devices during media viewing

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided herein for preventing interruptions to a media viewing activity caused by operations performed in a household by network-connected devices. A media guidance application may determine that operations are being performed by an IoT device and may cause an interruption to media viewing. The media guidance application may prevent the interruption by delaying or otherwise handling the operation or by notifying another user of the interruption.

BACKGROUND

Viewing media can be experienced in various environments. Many viewersenjoy watching media without distractions. In a household environment,there can be numerous distractions and interruptions to the viewerduring media viewing. Some of these distractions may be important andnecessary. However, other interruptions may not be urgent. For example,some household devices have alarms or buzzers than can make sounds andbe disruptive to a media viewer. Some of these alarms may requireintervention, while others may not. Other household devices, such asthermostats or lights, may have scheduled settings that cause them toturn on or off or change temperature which may be annoying to a viewerwhen watching media. Although there are many smart devices that may benetwork-connected and capable of remote accessibility and functionality,the alarms and disruptions may still interrupt a user when such alarmsmay not need immediate intervention. Handling interruptions by householddevices by modifying settings or by notifying others of alarms mayimprove a viewer's media experience because the viewer may avoiddisruptions in viewing media.

SUMMARY

The advancement of household devices and connectivity among suchdevices, as well as digital transmission of media content, has increasedthe amount of data that can be transmitted from various devices. Inparticular, household devices can communicate over a network and provideinformation to a controller about operations being performed by thehousehold devices, as well as information about handling such operationsand a condition of the household device and contents or objectsassociated with the device during and after the operation performance.For example, Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices may be able tocommunicate over a network allowing a user to access devicefunctionality from another location. In addition, media systems maytransmit metadata that includes detailed information about mediacontent. This metadata may include descriptions and tags to contentswithin the media asset as well as timing information. While thisinformation, by itself, may not be useable for displaying to a humanuser, computer processors can read and interpret this information.However, while computer processors may read and interpret thisinformation and generate media content for display that may be useableby a human user (e.g., output media content on a display screen in ahuman recognizable format), these systems still fail to solve theaforementioned problem when implemented in computer systems because analarm or interruption event generated by a network-connected device inperformance of an operation or following performance of the operationmay still interrupt users when watching media when such alarm orinterruption could be delayed or be avoided during the media viewingactivity.

Accordingly, to overcome the problems created by unnecessary disruptionsin media viewing, systems and methods are described for managinginterruptions in devices, such as household devices that are part of anInternet of Things (IoT) arrangement, that may occur during mediaviewing. In particular, interruptions that may occur from operationsperformed by IoT devices may be detected by a media guidanceapplication, and media activity timing may be obtained by the mediaguidance application using metadata for a media asset to determine,using control circuitry, whether interruptions will occur duringviewing. The media guidance application control circuitry may retrieveinformation about interruptions and associated operations and IoTdevices to determine a way to handle the interruption to avoiddisturbing the viewer during media viewing. Handling the interruptionmay involve the media guidance application control circuitry sending acommand to a network-connected IoT device to delay an operation, extendan operation, perform a secondary operation, or transmit a notificationto another person about the interruption, or other response.

In an example, a viewer may select media to view using a media guidanceapplication. The media guidance application may be connected to a homenetwork and be capable of communicating (e.g., using control circuitry)a query for status information of devices in the household (e.g.,network-connected or IoT devices). The media guidance application may becapable of communicating directly with any of the household devicesusing the home network, or may use an intermediary device such as a homeassistant, e.g., Google Home, Apple Homepod, Amazon Echo, or anotherdevice for communications. The media guidance application may be able toretrieve, using control circuitry, information about the media selectedby the viewer, such as time information for playback of the media orother media metadata that may be available from a media database. Thestatus information received from the devices in the household mayindicate whether any operations are being performed by the devices andwhether any of those operations may occur during the playback period ofthe selected media. In some scenarios, the media guidance applicationusing control circuitry may initiate a request for status information inresponse to selection of the media for viewing. The request for statusinformation may include a query of network-connected devices in thehousehold for an operation in progress and a start time for therespective operation in progress. Some examples of operations beingperformed by Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices, such as a refrigerator,oven, washing machine, dishwasher, dryer, thermostat, robot vacuum oranother device, may be operations such as cleaning, washing, heating,cooling, freezing, treating, and baking. Status information about suchoperations may indicate that household lights are due to go on or offfor a random security pattern, an oven timer may be set for baking, adryer may be performing an anti-wrinkle drying cycle, and/or athermostat may be set to lower a heat setting at night. Any of thesedevice operations may occur and terminate during the media playbackperiod. When these operations end, they may require intervention by theviewer which may interrupt the viewer's media consumption experience.For example, when an oven timer sounds, the viewer may have to pause themedia and turn off the oven or remove any items in the oven. Using themedia guidance control circuitry to analyze these operations todetermine whether they can be handled in a manner that avoidsinterrupting the media playback period may enhance the viewer's viewingexperience by avoiding interruptions that may not be important ornecessary and by sending notifications to other persons in a householdto handle the interruption.

In an illustrative example, methods and systems for preventing mediaviewing interruptions may include receiving, at control circuitry for amedia guidance application, a user's selection of a media asset forplayback. The selection of the media asset may be input in the mediaguidance application using any suitable input device such as a remotecontrol, keyboard, pointing device, touchscreen, voice command oranother input. In response to the selection of the media asset, themedia guidance application control circuitry may receive statusinformation from household devices, such as IoT devices, which arenetwork-connected devices in a home of the user, or another environment,such as an office or dormitory. The status information may be operationstatus information that indicates any operations being performed by theIoT devices in the household. Examples of household IoT devices mayinclude an oven, thermostat, washing machine, dryer, dishwasher,refrigerator, robot vacuum, or other IoT device. Some examples of statusinformation may be that a dishwasher or washing machine are performing acleaning cycle, an oven is set to bake at 350° F. for 45 minutes, and athermostat is set to 68° F. until 10:00 pm when it will lower to 55° F.

To determine whether such operations may occur during playback of theselected media, the media guidance application control circuitry maydetermine a time period for playback of the media asset. The time periodfor playback of the media asset may be obtained from metadata associatedwith the media asset. The media guidance application control circuitrymay also determine a time period related to performance of the operationby the network-connected device including a start time for performanceof the operation and an end time for performance of the operation. Themedia guidance application may compare, using control circuitry, themedia asset playback time period and the operation time details todetermine that the end time for performance of the operation precedescompletion of the time period for the playback of the media asset. Thus,the media guidance application may determine that the operation willcomplete prior to the end of the playback period for the media assetpotentially causing an interruption to the user during the playbackperiod.

In order to analyze the operation or operations, the media guidanceapplication may seek additional information about the operation beingperformed and send a query to a database of network-connected deviceoperation procedures. The query may include a request for informationassociated with handling completion of the operation and also conditioninformation of the network-connected device associated with theoperation completion. The query may also include time information forthe operation in progress. For example, the query may seek an operationprocedure from a database that may include details on potential outcomesfor the network device upon completion of the operation. For example, adishwasher may sound an alarm when a wash cycle is completed, but thecondition of the dishwasher may be neutral in that the dishwasher andthe contents of the dishwasher will not be harmed if the viewer does notturn off the dishwasher at the end of the cycle. In another example, anoven timer may sound at the end of a time period. If the oven is set toa baking temperature, the operation procedure may indicate that thecontents of the oven may be overcooked or burn if the viewer does notopen the oven or turn off the oven at the end of the timer period. Theoven may include advanced settings that indicate the contents in theoven so that for roasted vegetables, the timing may be less criticalthan for a soufflé. In another example a dryer set to an anti-wrinkledry setting may sound an alarm at the end of the cycle so that the usercan remove the contents and avoid a garment wrinkling. Operationprocedures for an anti-wrinkle dry setting may indicate that the garmentmay become wrinkled if the user does not remove the item but that thedryer can extend the dry cycle to an air-dry cycle if the user cannotremove the item following completion of the cycle.

The media guidance application may use the operation procedures andoperation status information to determine, using control circuitry,whether the operation can be extended to terminate, after completion ofthe time period for the playback of the media asset, without causingharm or causing an adverse or detrimental condition to thenetwork-connected device or any objects associated with thenetwork-connected device. Thus, the media guidance application maydetermine whether an operation can be extended so that the end of theoperation does not interrupt the media playback period. Using theexamples above, a dryer may be able to extend a drying cycle, or adishwasher may add drying time at the end of the wash cycle. In suchexamples, in response to determining that the operation can be extended,the media guidance application may transmit a command, using controlcircuitry, to the network-connected device to extend the operationcurrently performed by the network-connected device. In some examples,however, the operation may not be able to be extended. For example, anoven set to bake at 350° F. for 30 minutes may not be extendable withoutthe food in the oven burning or otherwise being in a detrimentalcondition. Thus, if the operation is extended, a viewer may avoid aninterruption.

In response to determining that an operation cannot be extended, themedia guidance application may pause playback of the media asset andpresent a notification about the operation being performed by thenetwork-connected device. In this scenario, when the viewer selects amedia item to view, the media guidance application may cause anotification to be displayed to the user that alerts the user to theupcoming interruption that will occur during the playback period of themedia item so that the viewer is notified at the beginning of theviewing period, before they have started enjoying the media or becomeinvested in the experience, and not disturbed during the media viewingactivity when such interruption may be annoying.

Operations performed by IoT devices may have operation procedures thatindicate various conditions and interventions for the operation. Inaddition, the operations may have different outcomes or conditionsdependent on the objects associated with the operation. For example,baking different types of foods may have different response needs. Asoufflé or cake may require immediate removal from an oven following abaking period, whereas roasted vegetables or roast meats may not need tobe removed immediately. Such robust foods could also potentially be leftin an oven that is turned off and left to cool following a bakingoperation. Information about contents or objects in an IoT device may beobtained by user entry or by using a camera associated with the IoTdevice or a home assistant device. For example, contents in an oven maybe obtained by the network-connected device by user entry, e.g., thatthe user selects a timer, temperature, and notes a food type for thebaking operation. Or a camera for a home assistant in a kitchen maycapture a photograph of the oven at the time the baking operation isinitiated. The photograph captured by the camera may be compared to adatabase of objects associated with the IoT device to find a matchingobject. The home assistant camera may take the photograph (or if thecamera is associated with the IoT device, the IoT device will take thephotograph) when an operation is initiated. In some scenarios, thephotograph may be captured by the camera when a home assistant or themedia guidance application is seeking status information for thenetwork-connected device. In other scenarios, the photograph may becaptured by the camera when the home assistant or media guidanceapplication is notified that an interruption event will occur. In somescenarios, the content may be matched using an image database toidentify the contents at the time the operation begins. In otherscenarios, identification of the contents may be performed later if, andwhen, it is needed to determine whether the operation will need to behandled in a particular manner to avoid interrupting a household user.

In general, a command sent by the media guidance application to anetwork-connected device to extend an operation may be sent via thenetwork or via a home assistant device. The command to extend theoperation may be to increase a time period to perform the operation, adda secondary operation following the operation, power off thenetwork-connected device, and pause the operation by thenetwork-connected device. Some specific examples of these commands maybe that a dishwasher cycle may be extended so that the end heating cyclemay be increased by several more minutes, a dryer may add a followingoperation to add an air-dry cycle at the end of an anti-wrinkle cycle,the dishwasher may also be turned off, and a thermostat temperaturecycle may be paused until after the playback period has ended.

These commands may be issued by the media guidance application uponanalysis of the operation procedures which can determine what followingoperations may be available, or whether a device or its associatedobjects may be harmed by turning it off, or other details about theoperations. For example, prior to sending a command to increase a timeperiod for performance of the operation, the media guidance applicationmay determine that increasing the time period to perform the operationdoes not cause the network-connected device or its associated objectsdetriment or adverse effects. Similarly, prior to sending a command toperform a secondary operation following the operation, the mediaguidance application may determine, using control circuitry, that theoperation has an associated secondary operation that does not cause thenetwork-connected device or its associated objects detriment or adverseeffects. Such determination may be made by the media guidanceapplication by analyzing, using control circuitry, operation proceduresfor the IoT devices. The operation procedures may include respectiveoperation types and details for a respective time, interactivity,reaction, device condition, alarms, related or following operations,intervention, and post-operation handling for the operations.

In some scenarios, even if an operation cannot be extended, theoperation may not need to interrupt the media playback period. Forexample, there may be a short threshold time period that may beacceptable to let an operation continue without an adverse effect. Suchthreshold time periods may be set by a user and be available to themedia guidance application by analyzing, with control circuitry, a userprofile. The threshold time periods may also be set in operationprocedures that are associated with the operation. For example, 60seconds may be a suitable threshold period for an oven time when abaking temperature is below 400° F. Alternatively, a dryer anti-wrinklecycle may be able to sit without intervention for 3 minutes withoutwrinkling garments. The media guidance application may determine aremaining time period for completion of the operation using a currenttime, start or end time of the operation, a time period for theoperation, or combination thereof, prior to the end of the playbackperiod. The remaining time period may be compared to the threshold timeperiod using control circuitry. If it is less than the threshold timeperiod, the media guidance application may present a notification of theremaining time period for the user following the media viewing activity.This allows a user to finish media viewing without an interruptionoccurring when a short period of time remains between finishing theinterruptive event and the media playback period.

In another scenario, the media guidance application may seek to slightlyshorten the media viewing experience if the remaining time period isshort and less than a certain threshold time period. For example, if themedia playback period is 30 seconds later than the completion time forthe operation, the media guidance application may determine an end timeperiod being between the end time for performance of the operation andcompletion of the playback period of the media asset and compare the endtime period with a second threshold time period. The end time period maybe determined by the media guidance application control circuitry usingmetadata for the media asset and operation procedure time information.If the end time period is determined to be less than the secondthreshold time period, the media guidance application may analyzemetadata for the selected media to identify a portion of the media assetthat may be suitable for skipping. For example, an advertising segmentor credits may be considered suitable for skipping. Such portion mayhave a duration that is more than the second threshold time period. Ifsuch skippable portion can be identified, the media guidance applicationmay cause the media playback to skip the portion of the media assetsuitable for skipping by sending a command to the media device to skipsuch portion. Thus, the media playback period may be slightly shortenedso that the viewing experience is not interrupted by the householddevice operation.

In another illustrative example, methods and systems may be provided forpreventing media viewing interruptions. A media guidance application maybe used by a viewer to access a media item to view. While the media itemis being played, the media guidance application may receive anotification from a network-connected device, such as an IoT device, ina home of a user that indicates that an interruption to the mediaconsumption activity is imminent. The interruption event may beassociated with the network-connected device. For example, a mediaguidance application may receive a notification from an IoT thermostatthat the environment temperature may be lowered to a late-night coolersetting, from an oven that a timer for an oven bake setting is about tosound, from a dryer that a clothes drying cycle is about to end, oranother notification. To avoid interrupting the media consumptionactivity, the media guidance application may seek information about theinterruption event in order to find a way to handle or mitigate theeffect of the interruption event.

In response to receiving the notification, the media guidanceapplication may transmit a request, using control circuitry, to thenetwork-connected device in the home of the user (or other environment)for status information associated with the network-connected device. Themedia guidance application may also send a query, using controlcircuitry, to a database of network-connected device operationprocedures, that requests information associated with handlingcompletion of an operation associated with the interruption event. Themedia guidance application may determine, based on the statusinformation and the information associated with handling completion ofthe operation, whether the network-connected device includes a settingthat enables delaying the interruption event. For example, anetwork-connected thermostat may be able to delay a temperature cycle,or a washing machine may be able to delay an end of cycle alarm. Inresponse to determining that the network-connected device includes thedelay setting, the media guidance application may transmit a command tothe network-connected device to delay the interruption event. Thus, inthe above examples, the media guidance application may send a command toa thermostat to delay a temperature change, or send a command to awashing machine to delay an end of cycle alarm. Delaying the operationmay delay the alarm or interruption event so that a viewer is notdisturbed during media viewing.

In some scenarios, however, a delay setting may not be available for anoperation. In response to determining that the network-connected devicedoes not include the delay setting, the media guidance application maytransmit a notification that identifies the interruption event to asecond user. For example, if an oven timer is set for baking and willend imminently, the media guidance application may send a notificationof the timer to a second user in the household about the oven timer.Thus, instead of disturbing the viewer during media viewing, the mediaguidance application will send a notification about the interruption toanother person to intervene.

The second user may be identified by the media guidance application byreceiving, for example, from a home assistant device or thenetwork-connected device performing the operation, a list of usersassociated with the network-connected device. The media guidanceapplication control circuitry may select the second user from the listof users based on availability of the second user. The availability ofthe second user may be based on a proximity of a device associated withthe second user and the network-connected device associated with theinterruption event. For example, the media guidance application mayalert the second user on a smartphone associated with the second userand use the location of the smartphone and its proximity to therespective network-connected device as a basis for selecting the seconduser. More particularly, in a household having multiple persons, aperson nearest the device involved in the operation causing theinterruption event may be selected for the notification if such personis available.

In general, the network-connected devices may be any household devicethat is connected to a network, such as an IoT device, and which may beperforming an operation such as cleaning, washing, heating, cooling,freezing, treating, and baking, that may lead to the interruption event.Operation procedures for these operations may include respectiveoperation types and comprises details for a respective time for theoperation, interactivity, reaction, alarm, related operations,intervention, device object effects, post-operation handling, and athreshold time for intervention following completion.

Some operations performed by network-connected devices may be able toend without detriment to the device or objects associated with thedevice. For example, a washing machine clean cycle may end and thewasher as well as the clothes may be fine for a period of time withoutintervention by a user. In another example, a dishwasher regular cleancycle may be able to end without damaging the dishes if a user does notimmediately end it. In contrast, a dishwasher cycle for washingglassware may require removing the glassware so that the items do notbecome spotted. Such a condition may not be critically detrimental, butmay still be considered one to avoid. If an operation or interruptionevent cannot be delayed, it may be possible to avoid interruptionscaused by events that can be left without causing detriment to thedevice or objects associated with the device. In response to determiningthat the network-connected device does not include the delay setting,the media guidance application control circuitry may determine, based onthe information associated with handling completion of an operationassociated with the interruption event, an event type for theinterruption event. The event type may be determined to be one that doesnot cause detriment to the network-connected device and an objectassociated with the network-connected device. In such scenarios, themedia guidance application may suppress the interruption event andgenerate a notification about the interruption event followingconsumption of the media, i.e., after the media has been played so thatthe viewing experience is not interrupted by a less than criticalinterruption event.

Another way to handle the interruption event when the event cannot bedelayed because the network-connected device does not include a delaysetting, may be to turn off the network-connected device. In response todetermining that the network-connected device does not include the delaysetting, the media guidance application may determine, using controlcircuitry based on information about handling the completion of theoperation associated with the interruption event as well as a conditionof the network-connected device upon completing the operation, that thenetwork-connected device can be powered off before the interruptionevent. For example, a washing machine or dishwasher may be turned offfollowing a regular washing cycle without damaging the machines orrespective contents. In contrast, an oven could be turned off followinga baking cycle, but the food being baked may be overcooked if left in anoven that may retain heat for a period of time. In these scenarios, themedia guidance application may send a query, using control circuitry, tothe database of network-connected device operation procedures requestinginformation associated with objects associated with thenetwork-connected device in performance of the operation associated withthe interruption event. The media guidance application may use suchinformation to determine whether the objects associated with the devicewill be harmed by turning off the device. If the media guidanceapplication determines that the objects are not harmed by turning offthe device, the media guidance application may transmit, before theinterruption event, a command to the network-connected device to poweroff. Thus, a washing machine or dishwasher may be turned off before afinish cycle alarm sounds to avoid disturbing a viewer viewing media.

In some scenarios, if the interruption event cannot be delayed becausethe network-connected device does not include a delay setting, the mediaguidance application may generate an intervening display to present tothe user so that the user does not miss the main portion of the media.The display may include a notification about the interruption event aswell as a secondary segment, such as some background graphics,advertising, interesting content, or other suitable media. The secondarysegment may be displayed for a calculated time period based on a timeneeded for handling or responding to the interruption event and a timeneeded to travel the distance between the user and the network-connecteddevice. Providing the secondary segment may minimize a disruption tomedia viewing because content is provided that may not be a main focusof the viewer. The secondary segment may also include a countdown clockso that the user has a sense of how long they have to intervene in theinterruption event before resuming the media consumption activity.

In another scenario, if the network-connected device does not include adelay setting, the media guidance application may seek other responsesor interventions to avoid the interruption event. The media guidanceapplication may query a database of operation procedures to determinewhether a second operation is available to follow the interruptionevent, the second operation is one that is performed by thenetwork-connected device without action by the user. Examples of secondor following operations may be adding a second drying cycle to adishwasher that may be set to a glassware cycle or adding an air-drycycle to an anti-wrinkle drying cycle in a clothes dryer. The mediaguidance application may check that the time to perform the secondoperation will end after completion of the media consumption activity,for example, so that it does not simply delay the interruption. If thetiming is suitable, then the media guidance application may transmit acommand to the network-connected device to perform the second operationat the interruption event. Thus, the media guidance application may senda command to the dryer to add an air-dry cycle for a time periodexceeding the time remaining in the media consumption activity so thatthe viewer's viewing experience is not disturbed by an alarm orinterruption following the operation.

Another way to avoid an interruption event may be to determine whetherthe gap in time between the interruption event and the end of the mediaconsumption activity exceeds a threshold time period. If the time gap isrelatively short and the interruption event is of a suitable type, thenthe media guidance application may suppress the interruption event. Forexample, in response to determining that the network-connected devicedoes not include a delay setting, the media guidance application maydetermine a time period remaining for the media consumption activity, atime for the interruption event, and an event type for the interruptionevent. The timing information may be obtained by the media guidanceapplication control circuitry from metadata for a media asset and fromoperation information. The media guidance application may compare, usingcontrol circuitry, the time period with a threshold time periodassociated with the event type. For example, some types of less thancritical events may have a longer threshold time period where the eventscan be suppressed, and some critical events that can cause detriment toa machine or its contents may have a short threshold time period. Inresponse to determining that the time period is less than the thresholdtime period associated with the event type, the media guidanceapplication may suppress the interruption event until the end of themedia consumption activity. For example, the media guidance applicationmay send a command to an associated IoT device to not sound an alarmfollowing the end of an operation until the end of media viewing. Thus,the disruption may be suppressed until the end of the media viewingplayback period.

In another example, the media guidance application may handle aninterruption event by displaying a secondary segment at the time of theinterruption event. The media guidance application may analyze metadataassociated with the media to identify a portion of the media that may besecondary content, such as advertising, credits, or other content. Inresponse to determining that the network-connected device does notinclude a delay setting, the media guidance application may determine atime period remaining for the media consumption activity and identify,using control circuitry based on metadata for the media, a secondarysegment that is a secondary focus of the media consumption activity anddisplay the secondary segment at the time of the interruption event.Thus, an advertising segment may be displayed at a time corresponding tothe interruption event. Having an interruption occur when an advertisingor secondary segment is displayed may be less disruptive to a viewerthan having a disruption occur during content that is a main focus ofthe viewer.

It should be noted that the systems, methods, apparatuses, and/oraspects described above may be applied to, or used in accordance with,other systems, methods, apparatuses, and/or aspects described in thisdisclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example of an environment in which a mediaconsumption activity may occur and a household that may havenetwork-connected devices in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative example of a notification generated by amedia guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative example of a status information fornetwork-connected devices in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative example of operation procedures and detailsin accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIGS. 5-6 show other illustrative examples of display screens generatedby a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an illustrative user equipment device inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an illustrative media system in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for handling anoperation being performed by a network-connected device when selecting amedia asset in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of another illustrative process for handling anoperation being performed by a network-connected device when selecting amedia asset in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for handling animminent interruption event during a media consumption activity inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of another illustrative process for handling animminent interruption event during a media consumption activity inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIGS. 13-14 are flowcharts of illustrative processes for handling aninterruption event during a media consumption activity in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for notifying anotheruser of an interruption event in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Accordingly, systems and methods are described herein for enhancing aviewer's media consumption experience by preventing or handling eventsthat may interrupt viewing the media. In particular, when a viewerselects media for viewing, a media guidance application may requeststatus information from household devices to determine whether any ofthe devices are performing operations that may interrupt viewing themedia and then minimize disruptions by handling the interruptions.

The household devices may be any network-connected devices in a home oran environment near a media viewing location, such as an office,dormitory, school, or other location. The network-connected devices maybe Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices which are capable of communicatingbetween the devices and a controller such as a home assistant, forexample, Google Home, Apple Homepod, Amazon Echo and other homeassistants. Some types of operations performed by IoT devices may beable to be performed without interrupting the viewer. For example, awashing machine may perform a clothes washing cycle and finish the cyclewith an alarm sounding but having a neutral condition that does notnecessarily require immediate intervention. Other types of operationsrequire intervention to avoid detriment or adverse effects to the deviceor objects associated with the device. For example, a baking operationin an oven using a timer may require intervention at the end of thetimer period to avoid overcooking or burning the oven contents. Othertypes of operations may need intervention but can be left for a limitedperiod of time without overly adverse effects. For example, ananti-wrinkle drying cycle in a dryer may end and be followed by anair-dry cycle to keep garments from wrinkling, or end and sit for ashort period of time before a user may remove the garments. Theseoperations may be managed by a media guidance application, or a mediaguidance application in conjunction with a home assistant device, tolimit interruptions in a media viewing experience. Such techniques maybe applied preemptively when media is selected for viewing so that auser is notified of upcoming interruptions prior to starting mediaconsumption, or such interruptions may be managed by the media guidanceapplication. In addition, these techniques may be applied in real timeif an interruption is imminent during media viewing, and the mediaguidance application coordinates handling of the interruption tominimize breaks and disruption in the user's media viewing experience.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative household environment in which a user mayconsume media displayed on a screen 100, which may be a television,computer monitor or other display device. In the household, there may bea home assistant 110, such as a Google Home, Amazon Echo, Apple Homepodor another assistant. The home assistant 110 and the screen 100 may becommunicatively coupled over a home network with a media guidanceapplication which may be used to provide media interfaces for accessingmedia to view on the screen 100. The household environment may also havevarious network-connected devices or IoT devices that are also connectedvia the home network and capable of being controlled using IoTapplications and using the home assistant 100. Some examples of homenetwork-connected devices include an oven 120, refrigerator 140 andwasher/dryer 150. Other network-connected and IoT devices, not depicted,may include robot vacuums, thermostats, security cameras, lightingsystems, dishwashers, or other devices.

In an illustrative example, a user may use the media guidanceapplication to select media to view on the screen 100. When the mediaselection is received, the media guidance application may request statusinformation from the network-connected devices. Any of thenetwork-connected devices may send status information to the homeassistant 100 or the media guidance application of operations inprogress so that the media guidance application can detect whether anyof such operations in progress may cause an interruption to mediaviewing. In some scenarios, since operations may begin after a mediaselection is made, the media guidance application may periodicallyrequest status updates from network-connected devices for operationinformation to detect, on an ongoing basis, whether interruption eventsmay occur. In yet other scenarios, the media guidance application mayreceive updates from network-connected devices when an interruption isabout to occur. In any of these scenarios, the media guidanceapplication may seek information about the operations and theinterruption events to determine a suitable handling technique. Forexample, some operations may be delayed, paused, ended, extended, and insome scenarios, additional operations may be added to avoid interruptingmedia viewing. In other scenarios, an intervention may be needed and soanother household member may be identified and sent a notification ofthe interruption event.

Generally speaking, notifications about interruption events are soughtto be minimized or avoided entirely so that a media viewing experienceis not disrupted. However, in some scenarios, an interruption eventcannot be completely avoided and so a notification may be displayed fora viewer. Turning to FIG. 2, a display screen 200, which may be atelevision, computer monitor or other display screen, may show anotification that is generated by a media guidance application. Anexample of notification 210 may include a message that says that aninterruption event will occur during playback of media. Suchnotification 210 may be presented following selection of media forviewing and before the media is displayed. The notification 210 may begenerated when a media is selected, which may cause the media guidanceapplication to query network-connected devices for status information ofoperations so that the media guidance application can preemptivelydetermine whether any operations are in progress that may cause aninterruption. The message 210 may include additional information aboutthe interruption event, for example, the operation causing theinterruption, timing and the associated network-connected device. Thedisplay screen 200 may also include options for handling theinterruption event, including, for example, an ignore option 220, pauseoption 225, quit option 230, alternate notification 235 and a command240. Selection of the ignore option 220 may cause the notificationmessage 210 to close and be ignored. The pause option 225 may beselected to pause playback of the media. The quit option 230 may be usedto quit the media viewing. The alternate notification 235 option may beselected to send the notification message 210 to another user. Thecommand option 240 may be selected to send a suitable command to anetwork-connected device associated with the interruption event. Forexample, if the interruption event is an oven timer sounding, there maybe a command to turn off the oven. In another example, if theinterruption event is to turn on area lights based on a securitysetting, there may be a command to not turn on the area lights. Othernotification message information may also be depicted in screen 200, forexample a timer or countdown clock for the interruption event,background graphics or advertising segment so that the viewer does notmiss any of the media content, location information for thenetwork-connected device, intervention handling recommendations, orother suitable information.

In order for the media guidance application to prevent and avoidunnecessary interruptions, the media guidance application first needs toknow what operations are in progress. The media guidance application maysend a request for status information from the network-connected devicesin a household, such as any IoT devices. The status information may beprovided in a data record such as the data record depicted in FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 depicts a data record of status information 300 that includesdevices 305, operations 310, contents 312, a start time 315, end time318, and a condition 320. The status information 300 may also includeother related operation details. The status information 300 may be usedby the media guidance application to determine whether any operationsare being performed and whether they will finish during a time periodoverlapping with a media viewing activity. For example, one activeoperation 325 may be that an oven is baking from 17:25-18:25 and has anend condition of an alarm that requires a response. For some types ofoperations, a response may depend on the contents or objects associatedwith the operation. For example, if a soufflé is being baked 325, it mayrequire intervention to remove it from the oven at the end of the timerperiod. In contrast, a pot roast or roasted potatoes, may be able to sitin an oven for a few minutes following a timer period. Another activeoperation 330 may be a refrigerator ice making cycle which may have anunspecified time and end in a neutral condition, i.e., meaning that theoperation does not require intervention. Another active operation 335may be that a washing machine is performing a delicate wash cycle ofdelicate items from 18:05 to 18:45 and also has a neutral condition.Other devices may report that they are not performing active operations,e.g., 340 and 345. Based on the status information 300, a media guidanceapplication may determine that there is one operation 325 that requiresintervention. If the operation time, i.e., from 17:25-18:25, overlapswith the media viewing time, then the media guidance application mayseek a way to handle the interruption to minimize or avoid disruption tothe viewer. To make such a determination, the media guidance applicationmay request additional information about operation procedures.

Status information may include contents 312 information because someoperations may be handled differently depending on the contents orobjects used in an operation. For example, baking different types offoods may have different response needs. A soufflé or cake may requireimmediate removal from an oven following a baking period, whereasroasted vegetables or roast meats may not need to be removedimmediately. Such robust foods could also potentially be left in an oventhat is turned off and left to cool following a baking operation.Information about contents of the oven may be obtained by thenetwork-connected device by user entry, e.g., that the user selects atimer, temperature and notes a food type for the baking operation.Content information may also be obtained using a photograph that may becaptured by a camera associated with the IoT device at the time theoperation begins. The photograph captured by the camera may be comparedto a database of objects associated with the IoT device to find amatching object.

An example list of operation procedures is depicted in FIG. 4. Theoperation procedures record 400 may include information about devices405, operations 410, time periods 415, a condition 420, an intervention425, a following operation 430, a time change 435, or other detailsabout an operation. The devices 405 may include any network-connecteddevice such as a household IoT device. Examples of devices 405 mayinclude an oven (440), dishwasher (450), a washing machine (460), dryer(470), and other devices. The operations 410 may include operations thatmay be performed by the respective devices 405. For example, a bakingoperation may be performed by an oven 440. The time period 415 may be aperiod of time required to perform the respective operation 410. Forexample, a time period for baking 440 may depend on an oven timer. Othertime periods may be fixed, for example, a regular dishwashing cycle maybe 45 minutes 450. Conditions 420 may be a condition caused during orfollowing performance of the respective operation 410. For example, acondition following oven baking may be that an alarm requires response440. Interventions 425 may include ways to intervene followingperformance of the respective operation 410. Using the baking example,an illustrative intervention may be that a response is required 440.Other operations may not necessarily require a response, such as adishwashing regular cycle may turn off following the cycle 450. Afollowing operation 430 may be an operation or operations that canfollow a respective operation 410. An example of a following operationto a regular dishwasher cycle may be an air-dry cycle 450. A time change435 may be an indication of whether the operation, if scheduled or inoperation, can be delayed. For example, a weekday schedule for areavacuuming using a robot vacuum may be okay to delay per 490, or athermostat that is set to change temperature based on a schedule 495 canbe changed. The details in FIG. 4 can be updated by thenetwork-connected devices based on information added by a user, or by amanufacturer's updates, or from a suitable source such as crowd basedupdates. The information in FIG. 4 may be stored in a database that isaccessible to a controller, such as a home assistant (FIG. 1, 110) or amedia guidance application.

The amount of content available to users in any given content deliverysystem can be substantial. Consequently, many users desire a form ofmedia guidance through an interface that allows users to efficientlynavigate content selections and easily identify content that they maydesire. An application that provides such guidance is referred to hereinas an interactive media guidance application or, sometimes, a mediaguidance application or a guidance application.

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms dependingon the content for which they provide guidance. One typical type ofmedia guidance application is an interactive television program guide.Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to aselectronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that,among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many typesof content or media assets. Interactive media guidance applications maygenerate graphical user interface screens that enable a user to navigateamong, locate and select content. As referred to herein, the terms“media asset” and “content” should be understood to mean anelectronically consumable user asset, such as television programming, aswell as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand(VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming content, downloadablecontent, Webcasts, etc.), video clips, audio, content information,pictures, rotating images, documents, playlists, websites, articles,books, electronic books, blogs, chat sessions, social media,applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia and/orcombination of the same. Guidance applications also allow users tonavigate among and locate content. As referred to herein, the term“multimedia” should be understood to mean content that utilizes at leasttwo different content forms described above, for example, text, audio,images, video, or interactivity content forms. Content may be recorded,played, displayed or accessed by user equipment devices, but can also bepart of a live performance.

The media guidance application and/or any instructions for performingany of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded on computerreadable media. Computer readable media includes any media capable ofstoring data. The computer readable media may be transitory, including,but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals,or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to, volatile andnon-volatile computer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk,floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory, processorcaches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”), etc.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speedwireless networks, users are accessing media on user equipment deviceson which they traditionally did not. As referred to herein, the phrase“user equipment device,” “user equipment,” “user device,” “electronicdevice,” “electronic equipment,” “media equipment device,” or “mediadevice” should be understood to mean any device for accessing thecontent described above, such as a television, a Smart TV, a set-topbox, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellitetelevision, a digital storage device, a digital media receiver (DMR), adigital media adapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, aDVD recorder, a connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, aBLU-RAY recorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PCmedia server, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationarytelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, aportable video player, a portable music player, a portable gamingmachine, a smart phone, or any other television equipment, computingequipment, or wireless device, and/or combination of the same. In someembodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facing screenand a rear facing screen, multiple front screens, or multiple angledscreens. In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a frontfacing camera and/or a rear facing camera. On these user equipmentdevices, users may be able to navigate among and locate the same contentavailable through a television. Consequently, media guidance may beavailable on these devices, as well. The guidance provided may be forcontent available only through a television, for content available onlythrough one or more of other types of user equipment devices, or forcontent available both through a television and one or more of the othertypes of user equipment devices. The media guidance applications may beprovided as on-line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or asstand-alone applications or clients on user equipment devices. Variousdevices and platforms that may implement media guidance applications aredescribed in more detail below.

One of the functions of the media guidance application is to providemedia guidance data to users. As referred to herein, the phrase “mediaguidance data” or “guidance data” should be understood to mean any datarelated to content or data used in operating the guidance application.For example, the guidance data may include program information, guidanceapplication settings, user preferences, user profile information, medialistings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcastchannels, titles, descriptions, ratings information (e.g., parentalcontrol ratings, critic's ratings, etc.), genre or category information,actor information, logo data for broadcasters' or providers' logos,etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, 3D,etc.), on-demand information, blogs, websites, and any other type ofguidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among and locatedesired content selections.

FIGS. 5-6 show illustrative display screens that may be used to providemedia guidance data. The display screens shown in FIGS. 5-6 may beimplemented on any suitable user equipment device or platform. While thedisplays of FIGS. 5-6 are illustrated as full screen displays, they mayalso be fully or partially overlaid over content being displayed. A usermay indicate a desire to access content information by selecting aselectable option provided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, alistings option, an icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicatedbutton (e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remote control or other user inputinterface or device. In response to the user's indication, the mediaguidance application may provide a display screen with media guidancedata organized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in agrid, by time, by channel, by source, by content type, by category(e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or other categories ofprogramming), or other predefined, user-defined, or other organizationcriteria.

FIG. 5 shows illustrative grid of a program listings display 500arranged by time and channel that also enables access to different typesof content in a single display. Display 500 may include grid 502 with:(1) a column of channel/content type identifiers 504, where eachchannel/content type identifier (which is a cell in the column)identifies a different channel or content type available; and (2) a rowof time identifiers 506, where each time identifier (which is a cell inthe row) identifies a time block of programming. Grid 502 also includescells of program listings, such as program listing 508, where eachlisting provides the title of the program provided on the listing'sassociated channel and time. With a user input device, a user can selectprogram listings by moving highlight region 510. Information relating tothe program listing selected by highlight region 510 may be provided inprogram information region 512. Region 512 may include, for example, theprogram title, the program description, the time the program is provided(if applicable), the channel the program is on (if applicable), theprogram's rating, and other desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programming (e.g., contentthat is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of user equipmentdevices at a predetermined time and is provided according to aschedule), the media guidance application also provides access tonon-linear programming (e.g., content accessible to a user equipmentdevice at any time and is not provided according to a schedule).Non-linear programming may include content from different contentsources including on-demand content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g.,streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored content(e.g., content stored on any user equipment device described above orother storage device), or other time-independent content. On-demandcontent may include movies or any other content provided by a particularcontent provider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “CurbYour Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time WarnerCompany L.P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM aretrademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content mayinclude web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or contentavailable on-demand as streaming content or downloadable content throughan Internet web site or other Internet access (e.g. FTP).

Grid 502 may provide media guidance data for non-linear programmingincluding on-demand listing 514, recorded content listing 516, andInternet content listing 518. A display combining media guidance datafor content from different types of content sources is sometimesreferred to as a “mixed-media” display. Various permutations of thetypes of media guidance data that may be displayed that are differentthan display 500 may be based on user selection or guidance applicationdefinition (e.g., a display of only recorded and broadcast listings,only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings514, 516, and 518 are shown as spanning the entire time block displayedin grid 502 to indicate that selection of these listings may provideaccess to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings,or Internet listings, respectively. In some embodiments, listings forthese content types may be included directly in grid 502. Additionalmedia guidance data may be displayed in response to the user selectingone of the navigational icons 520. (Pressing an arrow key on a userinput device may affect the display in a similar manner as selectingnavigational icons 520.)

Display 500 may also include video region 522, and options region 526.Video region 522 may allow the user to view and/or preview programs thatare currently available, will be available, or were available to theuser. The content of video region 522 may correspond to, or beindependent from, one of the listings displayed in grid 502. Griddisplays including a video region are sometimes referred to aspicture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and their functionalitiesare described in greater detail in Satterfield et al. U.S. Pat. No.6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,794,issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated by reference hereinin their entireties. PIG displays may be included in other mediaguidance application display screens of the embodiments describedherein.

Options region 526 may allow the user to access different types ofcontent, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidanceapplication features. Options region 526 may be part of display 500 (andother display screens described herein), or may be invoked by a user byselecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignablebutton on a user input device. The selectable options within optionsregion 526 may concern features related to program listings in grid 502or may include options available from a main menu display. Featuresrelated to program listings may include searching for other air times orways of receiving a program, recording a program, enabling seriesrecording of a program, setting program and/or channel as a favorite,purchasing a program, or other features. Options available from a mainmenu display may include search options, VOD options, parental controloptions, Internet options, cloud-based options, device synchronizationoptions, second screen device options, options to access various typesof media guidance data displays, options to subscribe to a premiumservice, options to edit a user's profile, options to access a browseoverlay, or other options.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user tocustomize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by themedia guidance application monitoring user activity to determine varioususer preferences. Users may access their personalized guidanceapplication by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to theguidance application. Customization of the media guidance applicationmay be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations mayinclude varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays,font size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g.,only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channelsbased on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display ofchannels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g.,recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality,etc.), parental control settings, customized presentation of Internetcontent (e.g., presentation of social media content, e-mail,electronically delivered articles, etc.) and other desiredcustomizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation or may automatically compile user profile information. Themedia guidance application may, for example, monitor the content theuser accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with theguidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application mayobtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to aparticular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the useraccesses, such as www.Tivo.com, from other media guidance applicationsthe user accesses, from other interactive applications the useraccesses, from another user equipment device of the user, etc.), and/orobtain information about the user from other sources that the mediaguidance application may access. As a result, a user can be providedwith a unified guidance application experience across the user'sdifferent user equipment devices. This type of user experience isdescribed in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 8. Additionalpersonalized media guidance application features are described ingreater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No.7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, and Ellis et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2002/0174430, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 6. Video mosaic display 600 includes selectable options 602 forcontent information organized based on content type, genre, and/or otherorganization criteria. In display 600, television listings option 604 isselected, thus providing listings 606, 608, 610, and 612 as broadcastprogram listings. In display 600 the listings may provide graphicalimages including cover art, still images from the content, video clippreviews, live video from the content, or other types of content thatindicate to a user the content being described by the media guidancedata in the listing. Each of the graphical listings may also beaccompanied by text to provide further information about the contentassociated with the listing. For example, listing 608 may include morethan one portion, including media portion 614 and text portion 616.Media portion 614 and/or text portion 616 may be selectable to viewcontent in full-screen or to view information related to the contentdisplayed in media portion 614 (e.g., to view listings for the channelthat the video is displayed on).

The listings in display 600 are of different sizes (i.e., listing 606 islarger than listings 608, 610, and 612), but if desired, all thelistings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes orgraphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user orto emphasize certain content, as desired by the content provider orbased on user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphicallyaccentuating content listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0153885, filed Nov. 12, 2009,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Users may access content and the media guidance application (and itsdisplay screens described above and below) from one or more of theiruser equipment devices. FIG. 7 shows a generalized embodiment ofillustrative user equipment device 700. More specific implementations ofuser equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 8.User equipment device 700 may receive content and data via input/output(hereinafter “I/O”) path 702. I/O path 702 may provide content (e.g.,broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, contentavailable over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN),and/or other content) and data to control circuitry 704, which includesprocessing circuitry 706 and storage 708. Control circuitry 704 may beused to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable datausing I/O path 702. I/O path 702 may connect control circuitry 704 (andspecifically processing circuitry 706) to one or more communicationspaths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more ofthese communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 7 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 704 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 706. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 executesinstructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e.,storage 708). Specifically, control circuitry 704 may be instructed bythe media guidance application to perform the functions discussed aboveand below. For example, the media guidance application may provideinstructions to control circuitry 704 to generate the media guidancedisplays. In some implementations, any action performed by controlcircuitry 704 may be based on instructions received from the mediaguidance application.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 704 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above mentioned functionality may be stored on theguidance application server. Communications circuitry may include acable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card,or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or anyother suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involvethe Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 8). Inaddition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enablespeer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communicationof user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (describedin more detail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 708 thatis part of control circuitry 704. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD)recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders,digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gamingconsoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storagedevices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 708 may be used tostore various types of content described herein as well as mediaguidance data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used(e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-basedstorage, described in relation to FIG. 8, may be used to supplementstorage 708 or instead of storage 708.

Control circuitry 704 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 704 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting content into the preferred output format of the userequipment 700. Circuitry 704 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by the user equipment device to receive and todisplay, to play, or to record content. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitrydescribed herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating,encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digitalcircuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or moregeneral purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may beprovided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and recordfunctions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording,etc.). If storage 708 is provided as a separate device from userequipment 700, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multipletuners) may be associated with storage 708.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 704 using user inputinterface 710. User input interface 710 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 712 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of userequipment device 700. For example, display 712 may be a touchscreen ortouch-sensitive display. In such circumstances, user input interface 710may be integrated with or combined with display 712. Display 712 may beone or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD)for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low temperature polysilicon display, electronic ink display, electrophoretic display, activematrix display, electro-wetting display, electrofluidic display, cathoderay tube display, light-emitting diode display, electroluminescentdisplay, plasma display panel, high-performance addressing display,thin-film transistor display, organic light-emitting diode display,surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), laser television,carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometric modulatordisplay, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images.In some embodiments, display 712 may be HDTV-capable. In someembodiments, display 712 may be a 3D display, and the interactive mediaguidance application and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. Avideo card or graphics card may generate the output to the display 712.The video card may offer various functions such as accelerated renderingof 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or theability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be anyprocessing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry704. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 704.Speakers 714 may be provided as integrated with other elements of userequipment device 700 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component ofvideos and other content displayed on display 712 may be played throughspeakers 714. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to areceiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers714.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone applicationwholly-implemented on user equipment device 700. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage708), and data for use by the application is downloaded on a periodicbasis (e.g., from an out-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, orusing another suitable approach). Control circuitry 704 may retrieveinstructions of the application from storage 708 and process theinstructions to generate any of the displays discussed herein. Based onthe processed instructions, control circuitry 704 may determine whataction to perform when input is received from input interface 710. Forexample, movement of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated bythe processed instructions when input interface 710 indicates that anup/down button was selected.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is a client-serverbased application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented onuser equipment device 700 is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests toa server remote to the user equipment device 700. In one example of aclient-server based guidance application, control circuitry 704 runs aweb browser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server. Forexample, the remote server may store the instructions for theapplication in a storage device. The remote server may process thestored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 704) andgenerate the displays discussed above and below. The client device mayreceive the displays generated by the remote server and may display thecontent of the displays locally on equipment device 700. This way, theprocessing of the instructions is performed remotely by the server whilethe resulting displays are provided locally on equipment device 700.Equipment device 700 may receive inputs from the user via inputinterface 710 and transmit those inputs to the remote server forprocessing and generating the corresponding displays. For example,equipment device 700 may transmit a communication to the remote serverindicating that an up/down button was selected via input interface 710.The remote server may process instructions in accordance with that inputand generate a display of the application corresponding to the input(e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). The generated display isthen transmitted to equipment device 700 for presentation to the user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded andinterpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (runby control circuitry 704). In some embodiments, the guidance applicationmay be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received bycontrol circuitry 704 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by auser agent running on control circuitry 704. For example, the guidanceapplication may be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, theguidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files thatare received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitablemiddleware executed by control circuitry 704. In some of suchembodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

User equipment device 700 of FIG. 7 can be implemented in system 800 ofFIG. 8 as user television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804,wireless user communications device 806, or any other type of userequipment suitable for accessing content, such as a non-portable gamingmachine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to hereincollectively as user equipment or user equipment devices, and may besubstantially similar to user equipment devices described above. Userequipment devices, on which a media guidance application may beimplemented, may function as a standalone device or may be part of anetwork of devices. Various network configurations of devices may beimplemented and are discussed in more detail below.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system featuresdescribed above in connection with FIG. 7 may not be classified solelyas user television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804, or awireless user communications device 806. For example, user televisionequipment 802 may, like some user computer equipment 804, beInternet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while usercomputer equipment 804 may, like some television equipment 802, includea tuner allowing for access to television programming. The mediaguidance application may have the same layout on various different typesof user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of theuser equipment. For example, on user computer equipment 804, theguidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a webbrowser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled downfor wireless user communications devices 806.

In system 800, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 8 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment device and also more than one of eachtype of user equipment device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user televisionequipment 802, user computer equipment 804, wireless user communicationsdevice 806) may be referred to as a “second screen device.” For example,a second screen device may supplement content presented on a first userequipment device. The content presented on the second screen device maybe any suitable content that supplements the content presented on thefirst device. In some embodiments, the second screen device provides aninterface for adjusting settings and display preferences of the firstdevice. In some embodiments, the second screen device is configured forinteracting with other second screen devices or for interacting with asocial network. The second screen device can be located in the same roomas the first device, a different room from the first device but in thesame house or building, or in a different building from the firstdevice.

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, programming preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the web site www.Tivo.com on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can changethe guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 814.Namely, user television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804, andwireless user communications device 806 are coupled to communicationsnetwork 814 via communications paths 808, 810, and 812, respectively.Communications network 814 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, orother types of communications network or combinations of communicationsnetworks. Paths 808, 810, and 812 may separately or together include oneor more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-opticpath, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g.,IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wirelesssignals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path orcombination of such paths. Path 812 is drawn with dotted lines toindicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 8 it is awireless path and paths 808 and 810 are drawn as solid lines to indicatethey are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, ifdesired). Communications with the user equipment devices may be providedby one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a singlepath in FIG. 8 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 808, 810, and 812, as well as other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipmentdevices may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect path via communications network 814.

System 800 includes content source 816 and media guidance data source818 coupled to communications network 814 via communication paths 820and 822, respectively. Paths 820 and 822 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 808, 810,and 812. Communications with the content source 816 and media guidancedata source 818 may be exchanged over one or more communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 8 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of contentsource 816 and media guidance data source 818, but only one of each isshown in FIG. 8 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The differenttypes of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, contentsource 816 and media guidance data source 818 may be integrated as onesource device. Although communications between sources 816 and 818 withuser equipment devices 802, 804, and 806 are shown as throughcommunications network 814, in some embodiments, sources 816 and 818 maycommunicate directly with user equipment devices 802, 804, and 806 viacommunication paths (not shown) such as those described above inconnection with paths 808, 810, and 812.

Content source 816 may include one or more types of content distributionequipment including a television distribution facility, cable systemheadend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g.,television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediatedistribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demandmedia servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned bythe National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by theAmerican Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned by theHome Box Office, Inc. Content source 816 may be the originator ofcontent (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) ormay not be the originator of content (e.g., an on-demand contentprovider, an Internet provider of content of broadcast programs fordownloading, etc.). Content source 816 may include cable sources,satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers,over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Contentsource 816 may also include a remote media server used to storedifferent types of content (including video content selected by a user),in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of content, and providing remotely storedcontent to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connectionwith Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 818 may provide media guidance data, such asthe media guidance data described above. Media guidance data may beprovided to the user equipment devices using any suitable approach. Insome embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-aloneinteractive television program guide that receives program guide datavia a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed). Programschedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the userequipment on a television channel sideband, using an in-band digitalsignal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitabledata transmission technique. Program schedule data and other mediaguidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog ordigital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source 818may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a user equipment device may pull media guidance data from aserver, or a server may push media guidance data to a user equipmentdevice. In some embodiments, a guidance application client residing onthe user's equipment may initiate sessions with source 818 to obtainguidance data when needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of dateor when the user equipment device receives a request from the user toreceive data. Media guidance may be provided to the user equipment withany suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specifiedperiod of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to arequest from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance data source 818 mayprovide user equipment devices 802, 804, and 806 the media guidanceapplication itself or software updates for the media guidanceapplication.

In some embodiments, the media guidance data may include viewer data.For example, the viewer data may include current and/or historical useractivity information (e.g., what content the user typically watches,what times of day the user watches content, whether the user interactswith a social network, at what times the user interacts with a socialnetwork to post information, what types of content the user typicallywatches (e.g., pay TV or free TV), mood, brain activity information,etc.). The media guidance data may also include subscription data. Forexample, the subscription data may identify to which sources or servicesa given user subscribes and/or to which sources or services the givenuser has previously subscribed but later terminated access (e.g.,whether the user subscribes to premium channels, whether the user hasadded a premium level of services, whether the user has increasedInternet speed). In some embodiments, the viewer data and/or thesubscription data may identify patterns of a given user for a period ofmore than one year. The media guidance data may include a model (e.g., asurvivor model) used for generating a score that indicates a likelihooda given user will terminate access to a service/source. For example, themedia guidance application may process the viewer data with thesubscription data using the model to generate a value or score thatindicates a likelihood of whether the given user will terminate accessto a particular service or source. In particular, a higher score mayindicate a higher level of confidence that the user will terminateaccess to a particular service or source. Based on the score, the mediaguidance application may generate promotions that entice the user tokeep the particular service or source indicated by the score as one towhich the user will likely terminate access.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications implemented on user equipment devices. For example, themedia guidance application may be implemented as software or a set ofexecutable instructions which may be stored in storage 708, and executedby control circuitry 704 of a user equipment device 700. In someembodiments, media guidance applications may be client-serverapplications where only a client application resides on the userequipment device, and server application resides on a remote server. Forexample, media guidance applications may be implemented partially as aclient application on control circuitry 704 of user equipment device 700and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g., mediaguidance data source 818) running on control circuitry of the remoteserver. When executed by control circuitry of the remote server (such asmedia guidance data source 818), the media guidance application mayinstruct the control circuitry to generate the guidance applicationdisplays and transmit the generated displays to the user equipmentdevices. The server application may instruct the control circuitry ofthe media guidance data source 818 to transmit data for storage on theuser equipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry ofthe receiving user equipment to generate the guidance applicationdisplays.

Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user equipment devices802, 804, and 806 may be over-the-top (OTT) content. OTT contentdelivery allows Internet-enabled user devices, including any userequipment device described above, to receive content that is transferredover the Internet, including any content described above, in addition tocontent received over cable or satellite connections. OTT content isdelivered via an Internet connection provided by an Internet serviceprovider (ISP), but a third party distributes the content. The ISP maynot be responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, orredistribution of the content, and may only transfer IP packets providedby the OTT content provider. Examples of OTT content providers includeYOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IPpackets. Youtube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is atrademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by Hulu,LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively providemedia guidance data described above. In addition to content and/or mediaguidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute media guidanceapplications (e.g., web-based applications or cloud-based applications),or the content can be displayed by media guidance applications stored onthe user equipment device.

Media guidance system 800 is intended to illustrate a number ofapproaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devicesand sources of content and guidance data may communicate with each otherfor the purpose of accessing content and providing media guidance. Theembodiments described herein may be applied in any one or a subset ofthese approaches, or in a system employing other approaches fordelivering content and providing media guidance. The following fourapproaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example ofFIG. 8.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribed above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similardevice provided on a home network, or via communications network 814.Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate differentuser equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may bedesirable for various media guidance information or settings to becommunicated between the different user equipment devices. For example,it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidanceapplication settings on different user equipment devices within a homenetwork, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. PatentPublication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types ofuser equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with eachother to transmit content. For example, a user may transmit content fromuser computer equipment to a portable video player or portable musicplayer.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access content and obtain media guidance. For example, someusers may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobiledevices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidanceapplication implemented on a remote device. For example, users mayaccess an online media guidance application on a website via a personalcomputer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA orweb-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g.,recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidanceapplication to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guidemay control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with amedia guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Varioussystems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where theuser equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, isdiscussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issuedOct. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsidea home can use their media guidance application to communicate directlywith content source 816 to access content. Specifically, within a home,users of user television equipment 802 and user computer equipment 804may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locatedesirable content. Users may also access the media guidance applicationoutside of the home using wireless user communications devices 806 tonavigate among and locate desirable content.

In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in a cloudcomputing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud computingenvironment, various types of computing services for content sharing,storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites or social networkingsites) are provided by a collection of network-accessible computing andstorage resources, referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloudcan include a collection of server computing devices, which may belocated centrally or at distributed locations, that provide cloud-basedservices to various types of users and devices connected via a networksuch as the Internet via communications network 814. These cloudresources may include one or more content sources 816 and one or moremedia guidance data sources 818. In addition or in the alternative, theremote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such asuser television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804, and wirelessuser communications device 806. For example, the other user equipmentdevices may provide access to a stored copy of a video or a streamedvideo. In such embodiments, user equipment devices may operate in apeer-to-peer manner without communicating with a central server.

The cloud provides access to services, such as content storage, contentsharing, or social networking services, among other examples, as well asaccess to any content described above, for user equipment devices.Services can be provided in the cloud through cloud computing serviceproviders, or through other providers of online services. For example,the cloud-based services can include a content storage service, acontent sharing site, a social networking site, or other services viawhich user-sourced content is distributed for viewing by others onconnected devices. These cloud-based services may allow a user equipmentdevice to store content to the cloud and to receive content from thecloud rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-storedcontent.

A user may use various content capture devices, such as camcorders,digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders, mobile phones, andhandheld computing devices, to record content. The user can uploadcontent to a content storage service on the cloud either directly, forexample, from user computer equipment 804 or wireless usercommunications device 806 having content capture feature. Alternatively,the user can first transfer the content to a user equipment device, suchas user computer equipment 804. The user equipment device storing thecontent uploads the content to the cloud using a data transmissionservice on communications network 814. In some embodiments, the userequipment device itself is a cloud resource, and other user equipmentdevices can access the content directly from the user equipment deviceon which the user stored the content.

Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device using, forexample, a web browser, a media guidance application, a desktopapplication, a mobile application, and/or any combination of accessapplications of the same. The user equipment device may be a cloudclient that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or theuser equipment device may have some functionality without access tocloud resources. For example, some applications running on the userequipment device may be cloud applications, i.e., applications deliveredas a service over the Internet, while other applications may be storedand run on the user equipment device. In some embodiments, a user devicemay receive content from multiple cloud resources simultaneously. Forexample, a user device can stream audio from one cloud resource whiledownloading content from a second cloud resource. Or a user device candownload content from multiple cloud resources for more efficientdownloading. In some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloudresources for processing operations such as the processing operationsperformed by processing circuitry described in relation to FIG. 7.

As referred herein, the term “in response to” refers to initiated as aresult of. For example, a first action being performed in response to asecond action may include interstitial steps between the first actionand the second action. As referred herein, the term “directly inresponse to” refers to caused by. For example, a first action beingperformed directly in response to a second action may not includeinterstitial steps between the first action and the second action.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of illustrative steps of a process 900 forhandling an operation being performed by a network-connected device whenselecting a media asset in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. It should be noted that process 900 or any step thereofcould be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown in FIGS.7-8. For example, process 900 may be executed by control circuitry 704(FIG. 7) as instructed by a media guidance application implemented on auser device (e.g., user equipment devices 802, 804, and/or 806 (FIG. 8))to avoid interruptions in media viewing. In addition, one or more stepsof process 900 may be incorporated into or combined with one or moresteps of any other process or embodiment described herein.

FIG. 9 depicts a flowchart for a process 900 for avoiding interruptionsduring playback of a media asset. FIG. 9 may be implemented in anenvironment such as that shown in FIG. 1 where a media viewer may viewmedia on a screen 100 (FIG. 1) and control circuitry 704 for a mediaguidance application may handle, in conjunction a home assistant 110(FIG. 1) with network-connected devices in a household to manage anyoperations being performed in the home. The environment around a mediaviewing area could be a household or other environment such as adormitory, office, or other location that may have media displays aswell as a local network with network-connected devices. Process 900 maybegin at step 905 with selection of a media asset for playback. Step 905may be initiated by the viewer by selecting a media asset from, forexample, a program guide (e.g., the guides 500 and 600, FIGS. 5 and 6)or another media interface. The media selection may be input using aninput device such as a remote control, smartphone, touchscreen, voicecommand or other suitable input. The selection of the media asset willbe received at the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication.

In response to the selection of the media asset, at step 910 the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may receive, from anetwork-connected device in a home of the user, operation statusinformation of an operation being performed by the network-connecteddevice. In some scenarios, the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application may initiate a request for the status information,and in other scenarios, the status information may be sent periodicallyto devices on the network or upon a change in status of one of thedevices on the network or other basis. The status information may be theinformation shown in the record 300 (FIG. 3) which includes operationstatus for network-connected devices. In general, process 900 involvesoperation status for operations that are currently being performed sothat an interruption can be avoided or known before a media viewingactivity begins. As an example, if an oven is set to bake and has atimer setting of 45 minutes, the oven can communicate the bakingoperation to the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication as its status information. Process 900 can also be used forscheduled operations that may be scheduled to occur during a mediaviewing activity. For example, a thermostat may communicate, to thecontrol circuitry 704 for the media guidance application, that it isscheduled to lower an ambient temperature at 10:00 pm.

At step 915, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may determine, based on the operation status information,whether the operation can be extended to terminate after completion ofplayback of the media asset without triggering a condition on thenetwork-connected device. The status information, e.g., statusinformation 300 (FIG. 3) may include condition information about theoperations. For example, the baking operation 325 may require a responseas its condition of the device. In contrast, a condition of a washingmachine performing a gentle wash cycle may have a neutral condition 335that does not require a response. Whether an operation is extendable maybe determined using operation procedure information which can besupplied as part of the status information or retrieved separately. Theoperation procedure information may include time change information andfollowing operation details, such as time change 435 and followingoperations 430 (FIG. 4), which can indicate, for example, that athermostat can have its heating schedule extended or changed 499.

At step 920 in response to the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application determining that the operation can be extended, thecontrol circuitry 704 for the media guidance application may transmit acommand to the network-connected device to extend the operationcurrently performed by the network-connected device. For example, sincea thermostat heating schedule can be changed or extended, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application can send a command tothe thermostat via the home assistant 110 or via the home network toextend the schedule. In this scenario, a viewer can watch the selectedmedia without the media room becoming cooler after 10:00 pm.

Some operations, however, cannot be extended. At step 925 in response tothe control circuitry 704 for the media guidance application determiningthat an operation cannot be extended, the control circuitry 704 for themedia guidance application may pause playback of the media asset andpresent a notification about the operation being performed by thenetwork-connected device. For example, if a baking operation is beingperformed by an oven, rather than have the oven timer interrupt themedia viewing activity, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may pause playback of the selected media and present anotification, such as that shown in FIG. 2, that the oven timer will gooff. The notification can provide additional information about theinterruption, such as the baking operation, identify the device as theoven, as well as time information for the interruption. Other helpfulinformation and options for handling the interruption may also besupplied in the notification.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 9 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 9 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped oromitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any ofthe devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 7-8 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of illustrative steps of a process 1000 forhandling an operation being performed by a network-connected device whenselecting a media asset in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. It should be noted that process 1000 or any step thereofcould be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown in FIGS.7-8. For example, process 1000 may be executed by control circuitry 704(FIG. 7) as instructed by a media guidance application implemented on auser device (e.g., user equipment devices 802, 804, and/or 806 (FIG. 8))to avoid interruptions in media viewing. In addition, one or more stepsof process 1000 may be incorporated into or combined with one or moresteps of any other process or embodiment described herein.

FIG. 10 depicts a flowchart for a process 1000 for handling aninterruption to a media viewing activity. FIG. 10 may be implemented inan environment such as that shown in FIG. 1 where a media viewer mayview media on a screen 100 (FIG. 1), and control circuitry 704 for amedia guidance application may handle, in conjunction a home assistant110 (FIG. 1) with network-connected devices in a household to manage anyoperations being performed in the home. The environment around a mediaviewing area could be a household or other environment such as adormitory, office, or another location that may have media displays aswell as a local network with network-connected devices. Process 1000 maybegin at step 1005 with control circuitry 704 for a media guidanceapplication receiving a selection of a media asset for playback. Theselection of the media asset may be made by the viewer by selecting amedia asset from, for example, a program guide (e.g., the guides 500 and600, FIGS. 5 and 6) or another media interface. The media selection maybe input using an input device such as a remote control, smartphone,touchscreen, voice command or other suitable input. The selection of themedia asset may be received at the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application.

In response to the selection of the media asset, at step 1010 thecontrol circuitry 704 for the media guidance application may receive,from a network-connected device in a home of the user, operation statusinformation of an operation being performed by the network-connecteddevice. In some scenarios, the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application may initiate a request for the status information,and in other scenarios, the status information may be sent periodicallyto devices on the network or upon a change in status of one of thedevices on the network or other basis. The status information may be theinformation shown in the record 300 (FIG. 3) which includes operationstatus for network-connected devices. In general, process 1000 involvesoperation status for operations that are currently being performed sothat an interruption can be avoided or known before a media viewingactivity begins. As an example, if an oven is set to bake and has atimer setting of 45 minutes, the oven can communicate the bakingoperation to the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication as its status information. Process 1000 can also be used forscheduled operations that may be scheduled to occur during a mediaviewing activity. For example, a thermostat may communicate to thecontrol circuitry 704 for the media guidance application that it isscheduled to lower an ambient temperature at 10:00 pm.

At step 1015 the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may determine a time period for playback of the media asset.The time period for playback of the media asset may be information thatis available for retrieval by the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application from metadata associated with the media asset or byrequest from a media database.

In addition to needing playback time to identify potential interruptionsin the media playback, the media guidance application needs to know thetiming of the operations being performed in the household. At step 1020,the control circuitry 704 for the media guidance application maydetermine a time period to perform an operation, including, for example,a start time for performance of the operation, an end time forperformance of the operation, and/or a time period for performing theoperation. Such information may be obtained using operation informationand operation procedures, such as those shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

At step 1025, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may compare the timing information obtained at steps 1015and 1020 and determine that the end time for performance of theoperation precedes completion of the time period for the playback of themedia asset. Thus, the operation will finish before the end of playbackof the media asset, causing an interruption in the media playback if theoperation requires handling.

If an operation is determined to finish before the media asset ends, atstep 1030, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidance applicationmay send a query to a database of network-connected device operationprocedures, the query requesting information associated with handlingcompletion of the operation and a condition of the network-connecteddevice associated with the operation completion. The operationprocedures may include additional information about a particularoperation in progress or may include information about any operationscapable of being performed by network-connected devices. Examples ofoperation procedures are depicted in FIG. 4. Step 1030 may also becombined with step 1010 so that operational details are received alongwith status information so that multiple queries are not needed.

At step 1035, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may determine, based on the operation status information andrespective operation procedure, whether the operation can be extended toterminate after completion of playback of the media asset withouttriggering a condition on the network-connected device. The statusinformation, e.g., status information 300 (FIG. 3) may include conditioninformation about the operations. For example, the baking operation 325may require a response as its condition of the device. In contrast, acondition of a washing machine performing a gentle wash cycle may have aneutral condition 335 that does not require a response. Whether anoperation is extendable may be determined using operation procedureinformation which can be supplied as part of the status information orretrieved separately. The operation procedure information may includetime change information and following operation details, such as timechange 435 and following operations 430 (FIG. 4), which can indicate,for example, that a thermostat can have its heating schedule extended orchanged 499.

At step 1040 in response to the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application determining that the operation can be extended, thecontrol circuitry 704 for the media guidance application may transmit acommand to the network-connected device to extend the operationcurrently performed by the network-connected device. For example, sincea thermostat heating schedule can be changed or extended, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application can send a command tothe thermostat via the home assistant 110 or via the home network toextend the schedule. In this scenario, a viewer can watch the selectedmedia without the media room becoming cooler after 10:00 pm. In anotherexample, a washing machine may have an extendable or following operation460 that can follow a wash cycle and so a command may be issued to thewashing machine using the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication to add an additional cycle or extend the spin cycle.

Some operations, however, cannot be extended. At step 1045 in responseto the control circuitry 704 for the media guidance applicationdetermining that an operation cannot be extended, the control circuitry704 for the media guidance application may pause playback of the mediaasset and present a notification about the operation being performed bythe network-connected device. For example, if a baking operation isbeing performed by an oven, rather than have the oven timer interruptthe media viewing activity, the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application may pause playback of the selected media andpresent a notification, such as that shown in FIG. 2, that the oventimer will go off. The notification can provide additional informationabout the interruption, such as the baking operation, identify thedevice as the oven, as well as time information for the interruption.Other helpful information and options for handling the interruption mayalso be supplied in the notification.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 10 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 10 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped oromitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any ofthe devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 7-8 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 10.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of illustrative steps of a process 1100 forhandling an imminent interruption event by a network-connected deviceduring a media consumption activity in accordance with some embodimentsof the disclosure. It should be noted that process 1100 or any stepthereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shownin FIGS. 7-8. For example, process 1100 may be executed by controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7) as instructed by a media guidance applicationimplemented on a user device (e.g., user equipment devices 802, 804,and/or 806 (FIG. 8)) to avoid interruptions in media viewing. Inaddition, one or more steps of process 1100 may be incorporated into orcombined with one or more steps of any other process or embodimentdescribed herein.

FIG. 11 depicts a process 1100 for handling an interruption to a mediaconsumption activity. Process 1100 may be followed to avoid or handleinterruptions that are imminent when a viewer is already viewing media.This may be helpful when at the time media viewing begins, there are noknown operations that may cause an interruption.

At step 1105, control circuitry 704 for a media guidance application mayreceive a notification from a network-connected device in a home of auser indicating that an interruption in a media consumption activity isimminent due to an interruption event associated with thenetwork-connected device. For example, in an environment such as thatdepicted in FIG. 1, a user may view a media asset on screen 100 and adevice in the home, such as an oven 120 may be performing a bakingoperation and have a timer set to go off imminently. Thenetwork-connected device may communicate the imminent interruption,i.e., that the over timer is about to go off, to the control circuitry704 for the media guidance application over the network.

At step 1110 in response to receiving the notification, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may transmit a requestto the network-connected device in the home of the user for statusinformation associated with the network-connected device. For example,the control circuitry 704 for the media guidance application may requestinformation about the operation that may be causing the imminentinterruption event. Examples of information requested may be timing, aswell as handling procedures, such as whether the operation will cause adetrimental condition or whether the operation can be delayed so thatthe operation does not interrupt the media viewing experience.

At step 1115 the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may determine, based on the status information, whether thenetwork-connected device includes a setting that enables delaying theinterruption event. The status information and operation procedures forthe operation may be similar to those shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 whichinclude details on network-connected device operations. For example, anoven baking operation cannot be delayed 440 (FIG. 4), but a refrigeratorinventory operation, which may be noisy, could be delayed 475 (FIG. 4).

At step 1120, in response to the determining that the network-connecteddevice includes the setting, i.e., a delay setting, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may transmit a commandto the network-connected device to delay the interruption event. Thus,for operations that can be delayed, the control circuitry 704 for themedia guidance application may send a command to the associated deviceto delay the operation or the part of the operation that will cause theinterruption event.

Some operations cannot be delayed, such as a baking operation in anoven. For such operations, at step 1125, in response to determining thatthe network-connected device does not include the delay setting, thecontrol circuitry 704 for the media guidance application may transmit anotification that identifies the interruption event to a second user. Insuch scenarios, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may identify another person in the household that may beable to handle the interruption event. For example, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may send a notificationto take an item out of the oven and turn it off. The notification mayinclude helpful information about the operation such as the location ofthe device, time remaining until the interruption event, or other usefuldetails.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 11 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 11 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped oromitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any ofthe devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 7-8 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 11.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of illustrative steps of a process 1200 forhandling an imminent interruption event by a network-connected deviceduring a media consumption activity in accordance with some embodimentsof the disclosure. It should be noted that process 1200 or any stepthereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shownin FIGS. 7-8. For example, process 1200 may be executed by controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7) as instructed by a media guidance applicationimplemented on a user device (e.g., user equipment devices 802, 804,and/or 806 (FIG. 8)) to avoid interruptions in media viewing. Inaddition, one or more steps of process 1200 may be incorporated into orcombined with one or more steps of any other process or embodimentdescribed herein.

FIG. 12 depicts a process 1200 for handling an interruption to a mediaconsumption activity. Process 1200 may be followed to avoid or handleinterruptions that are imminent when a viewer is already viewing media.This may be helpful when, at the time media viewing begins, there are noknown operations that may cause an interruption.

At step 1205, control circuitry 704 for a media guidance application mayreceive a notification from a network-connected device in a home of auser indicating that an interruption in a media consumption activity isimminent due to an interruption event associated with thenetwork-connected device. For example, in an environment such as thatdepicted in FIG. 1, a user may view a media asset on screen 100 and adevice in the home, such as an oven 120, may be performing a bakingoperation and have a timer set to go off imminently. Thenetwork-connected device may communicate the imminent interruption,i.e., that the over timer is about to go off, to the control circuitry704 for the media guidance application over the network.

At step 1210 in response to receiving the notification, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may transmit a requestto the network-connected device in the home of the user for statusinformation associated with the network-connected device. For example,the control circuitry 704 for the media guidance application may requeststatus information about the operation that may be causing the imminentinterruption event, including, for example, timing, identification ofthe device and operation, or other details.

At step 1215 in response to receiving the notification, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may send a query to adatabase of network-connected device operation procedures, the queryrequesting information associated with handling completion of anoperation associated with the interruption event. For example, thecontrol circuitry 704 for the media guidance application may send arequest for operation procedures such as those shown in FIGS. 3 and 4which may include details on handling an operation. Some examples ofinformation requested by the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application may be timing, as well as handling procedures, suchas whether the operation will cause a detrimental condition or whetherthe operation can be delayed so that the operation does not interruptthe media viewing experience.

At step 1220, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may determine, based on the status information and theinformation associated with handling completion of the operation,whether the network-connected device includes a setting that enablesdelaying the interruption event. For example, for a baking operation,the control circuitry 704 for the media guidance application mayconsider details 440 to determine whether the operation can be delayed.In another example, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may consider details 475 to determine whether a noisyrefrigerator inventory process can be delayed. In another example, thecontrol circuitry 704 for the media guidance application may considerdetails 495 to determine whether a thermostat setting can be changed.

At step 1225, in response to determining that the network-connecteddevice includes the setting, i.e., a delay setting, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may transmit a commandto the network-connected device to delay the interruption event. Thus,for operations that can be delayed, the control circuitry 704 for themedia guidance application may send a command to the associated deviceto delay the operation or the part of the operation that will cause theinterruption event. For example, the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application may send a command to a thermostat to delay atemperature change.

Some operations cannot be delayed, such as a baking operation in an oven(440 (FIG. 4)). For such operations, at step 1230, in response todetermining that the network-connected device does not include the delaysetting, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidance applicationmay transmit a notification that identifies the interruption event to asecond user. In such scenarios, the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application may identify another person in the household thatmay be able to handle the interruption event. For example, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may send a notificationto take an item out of the oven and turn it off. The notification mayinclude helpful information about the operation such as the location ofthe device, time remaining until the interruption event, or other usefuldetails.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 12 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 12 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped oromitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any ofthe devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 7-8 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 12.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of illustrative steps of a process 1300 forhandling an interruption event by a network-connected device inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. It should be notedthat process 1300 or any step thereof could be performed on, or providedby, any of the devices shown in FIGS. 7-8. For example, process 1300 maybe executed by control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7) as instructed by a mediaguidance application implemented on a user device (e.g., user equipmentdevices 802, 804, and/or 806 (FIG. 8)) to avoid interruptions in mediaviewing. In addition, one or more steps of process 1300 may beincorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocess or embodiment described herein.

FIG. 13 depicts a process 1300 for determining how to handle anoperation that may interrupt a media viewing experience. The process1300 may be followed preemptively prior to watching media when a mediaguidance application has information about an upcoming interruption. Inaddition, process 1300 may be followed when media viewing has commencedwhen an interruption is imminent, and the media guidance applicationattempts to handle the operation to avoid an interruption to the mediaviewing experience.

At step 1302, control circuitry 704 for the media guidance applicationmay receive status information in response to a query fornetwork-connected devices for status information. For example, whenmedia is selected to be viewed, or when control circuitry 704 for themedia guidance application is notified of an imminent interruptionevent, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidance application maysend a request to network-connected devices for status information. Therequest may be sent directly to the devices or via a home assistant 110.The status information may be the information shown in FIG. 3, forexample.

Some additional information about the operations may also be helpful,and so at step 1305, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may receive operation information for network-connecteddevices. The additional operation information may be procedures anddetails depicted in FIG. 4. Steps 1302 and 1305 may be performed incombination or separately.

The status information can be used by the control circuitry 704 for themedia guidance application to determine at step 1310 whether there areany operations in progress at network connected devices. The controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may determine that anoven is baking based on status information 325 (FIG. 3). If the statusinformation shows that there are no operations in progress, the process1300 may end.

If there is an operation in progress, the process continues at step 1315where the control circuitry 704 for the media guidance application maydetermine whether the operation terminates in a detrimental condition. Adetrimental condition may be one that causes an adverse effect to thedevice or an object associated with the device. For example, a bakingoperation may need to be handled following a timer end because food inthe oven may become burned or overcooked. Thus, for baking operations,the condition may be that it requires response, i.e., 325 (FIG. 3). If,however, there is no detrimental condition, such as a neutral conditioncaused by a refrigerator ice making cycle 330 (FIG. 3), the process 1300may end.

Process 1300 may continue with a confirmation of timing of the operationand interruption. At step 1320 the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application may determine a time for the operation toterminate. The timing details may be obtained using the statusinformation and operation procedures, for example, those shown in FIGS.3 and 4.

The timing details may be compared against the media activity timeperiod. The media activity time period may be obtained based on metadatafor the media asset. The comparison may be used by the control circuitry704 for the media guidance application at step 1325 to determine whetherthe termination time interferes with the media consumption or mediaviewing experience. If there is no overlap between the interruption andmedia viewing, process 1300 may end. If, however, the media viewing willbe interrupted by the interruption, process 1300 may continue with step1330.

At step 1330 the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may determine whether the operation can be delayed. Detailsabout network-connected device operations and handling of the operationsmay be obtained from operation procedures, e.g., those shown in FIG. 4,which may include information about whether the operation can bedelayed. For example, a refrigerator inventory operation, which may benoisy, can be delayed (475 (FIG. 4)). In another example, a foodexpiration warning by a refrigerator may also be delayed, in someinstances depending on the type of food and expiration type (480 (FIG.4)). In another example, a thermostat temperature change may also bedelayed (495 (FIG. 4)).

If the operation can be delayed, at step 1335, the control circuitry 704for the media guidance application may send a command to the respectivenetwork-connected device to delay the operation. Thus, using theexamples, above, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may send a command to the refrigerator to delay an inventoryoperation or an expiration warning. In another example, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may send a command to athermostat to delay a temperature change so that the viewer is notaffected by a change in ambient temperature. If the operation can bedelayed, the interruption event can be effectively handled so that itdoes not disturb the viewer. In some scenarios, the control circuitry704 for the media guidance application may determine how much timeremains in the media viewing experience and send a specific delaycommand so that the device delays an operation for the 20 minutesremaining in the media activity.

If, however, the operation cannot be delayed, the process may continueat step 1340 where the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may determine whether there is a following operation. Forexample, for an anti-wrinkle dry cycle for a dryer, at the end of thecycle, there may be an air-dry anti-wrinkle cycle that can be added tofollow the cycle or an extension of the dry cycle, (e.g., 465, 470 (FIG.4)). In another example, some types of baking operations may be followedwith a cool down and powering off of the oven (440 (FIG. 4)). This maybe suitable for roasting vegetables or other hardy items but notsuitable for baking a soufflé. Such additional operational detailsspecific to the operation may be useful in handling the operation.

If a following operation is available, the control circuitry 704 for themedia guidance application may send, at step 1345, a command to therespective network-connected device to perform the following operation.Thus, for example, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may send a command to the oven to turn off or to the dryerto add an air-dry cycle. In some scenarios, the control circuitry 704for the media guidance application may determine how much time remainsin the media viewing experience and send a specific extension command sothat the dryer performs a following air-dry cycle for the 20 minutesremaining in the media activity.

If no operational delay or following operation is available at steps1330 and 1340, respectively, the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application may confirm whether the amount of time left in themedia activity warrants an interruption. At step 1350, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may determine a timebetween the end of the operation that may cause an interruption and anend of the media consumption activity. Such determination may be made bythe control circuitry 704 for the media guidance application based onoperation procedures and status information, such as that shown in FIGS.3 and 4, together with media asset time from metadata for the mediaasset.

A threshold amount of time may be set where an interruption could beskipped. For example, if only a minute remains between the interruptionand finishing viewing, then perhaps a detrimental condition in anetwork-connected device may not be critical, and so it couldpotentially hold. Each type of operation may have a different thresholdamount of time. For example, a baking operation for cookies may be oneminute whereas baking a roast may be five minutes, an anti-wrinkle drycycle may be able to sit for three minutes without wrinkling, a wineglass dishwashing cycle may be able to sit for two minutes withoutdeveloping spots on the glasses, or other threshold for particularoperations may be used. Such thresholds may be set by the user or arisefrom crowd sourced databases, or manufacturer databases for devices.

At step 1355 the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may determine whether the time between the operationfinishing and the end of media viewing exceeds the threshold for theoperation. If the time does not exceed the threshold, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may end the process1300 and not interrupt the viewer and also not issue any handlingcommands to the device. A notification about the operation may bedisplayed for the user following the media viewing activity.

If, however, the threshold is exceeded, at step 1360, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may generate anotification about the operation so that the viewer can intervene. Insome scenarios, the media guidance application will send a notificationof the operation to another person in the household to intervene.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 13 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 13 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped oromitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any ofthe devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 7-8 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 13.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of illustrative steps of a process 1400 forhandling an interruption event by a network-connected device inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. It should be notedthat process 1400 or any step thereof could be performed on, or providedby, any of the devices shown in FIGS. 7-8. For example, process 1400 maybe executed by control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7) as instructed by a mediaguidance application implemented on a user device (e.g., user equipmentdevices 802, 804, and/or 806 (FIG. 8)) to avoid interruptions in mediaviewing. In addition, one or more steps of process 1400 may beincorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocess or embodiment described herein.

FIG. 14 depicts a process 1400 for handling an interruption to a mediaviewing activity. For example, in an environment such as that depictedin FIG. 1, a user may view a media asset on screen 100 and there may bedevices in the home that may be performing operations that may cause aninterruption to viewing the media asset.

At step 1405, control circuitry 704 for a media guidance application mayreceive status information indicating an operation occurring during amedia consumption activity. For example, when media is selected to beviewed, or when control circuitry 704 for the media guidance applicationis notified of an imminent interruption event, the control circuitry 704for the media guidance application may send a request tonetwork-connected devices for status information. The request may besent directly to the devices or via a home assistant 110. The statusinformation may be the information shown in FIG. 3, for example.

At step 1410, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may determine whether the operation can be extended.Extending an operation may include adding time to an operation ordelaying the operation for a period of time. Details about operationextensions may be obtained from operation procedures fornetwork-connected devices, such as those shown in FIG. 4. For example, athermostat temperature schedule may be extended (495 (FIG. 4)).

If the operation can be extended, the control circuitry 704 for themedia guidance application may confirm, at step 1415, that extending theoperation will not cause detriment to the device and then send a commandto the device to extend operation. A detrimental condition to the deviceor object associated with the device may be one that causes damage oradverse effects to the device or its contents. For example, a bakingoperation, if extended, may cause food in the oven to burn. If, however,the operation can be extended, such as for a thermostat, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may send a command tothe device to extend the operation.

If the operation cannot be extended (or delayed), at step 1420, thecontrol circuitry 704 for the media guidance application may determinewhether there is a following operation. For example, for an anti-wrinkledry cycle for a dryer, at the end of the cycle, there may be an air-dryanti-wrinkle cycle that can be added to follow the cycle or an extensionof the dry cycle, (e.g., 465, 470 (FIG. 4)). In another example, sometypes of baking operations may be followed with a cool down and poweringoff of the oven (440 (FIG. 4)). This may be suitable for roastingvegetables or other hardy items, but not suitable for baking a soufflé.Such additional operational details specific to the operation may beuseful in handling the operation.

If a following operation is available, control circuitry 704 for themedia guidance application may confirm, at step 1425, that the followingoperation does not cause detriment to the device or contents associatedwith the device and send a command to the respective device to performthe following operation. For example, the control circuitry 704 for themedia guidance application may confirm that adding an air-dry cycle to adryer will not cause a detrimental condition to the dryer or garmentsbefore sending a command to add an air-dry cycle.

If no following operation is available, at step 1430, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may determine a timeperiod between the end of the operation and the end of the mediaconsumption activity. If the time period is short, it may not becritical enough to warrant an interruption event.

Thus, at step 1435 the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may determine whether the time period exceeds a threshold. Athreshold amount of time may be set where an interruption could beskipped. For example, if only a minute remains between the interruptionand finishing viewing, then perhaps a detrimental condition in anetwork-connected device may not be critical, and so it couldpotentially hold. Each type of operation may have a different thresholdamount of time. For example, a baking operation for cookies may be oneminute whereas baking a roast may be five minutes, an anti-wrinkle drycycle may be able to sit for three minutes without wrinkling, a wineglass dishwashing cycle may be able to sit for two minutes withoutdeveloping spots on the glasses, or other threshold for particularoperations may be used. Such thresholds may be set by the user or arisefrom crowd sourced databases or manufacturer databases for devices.

If the threshold is exceeded, the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application may generate a notification about the operation atstep 1440.

If, however, the threshold is not exceeded, the control circuitry 704for the media guidance application may analyze the media asset metadatato identify a skippable portion of the media. For example, metadata fora media asset may indicate that there are advertisements or end creditsthat could be skipped. For such media, the control circuitry 704 for themedia guidance application may send a command at step 1445 to skip theskippable portion of the media. In this scenario, the control circuitry704 for the media guidance application can skip content in the mediathat may not be a main focus so that the viewer can finish the mediaviewing activity before the interruption event occurs. When the skippingoccurs, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidance application mayoptionally send a notification at step 1440 so that the viewer knows ofthe interruption event.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 14 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 14 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped oromitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any ofthe devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 7-8 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 14.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of illustrative steps of a process 1500 fornotifying another user of an interruption event by a network-connecteddevice in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. It shouldbe noted that process 1500 or any step thereof could be performed on, orprovided by, any of the devices shown in FIGS. 7-8. For example, process1500 may be executed by control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7) as instructed bya media guidance application implemented on a user device (e.g., userequipment devices 802, 804, and/or 806 (FIG. 8)) to avoid interruptionsin media viewing. In addition, one or more steps of process 1500 may beincorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocess or embodiment described herein.

FIG. 15 depicts a process 1500 for avoiding an interruption event duringmedia viewing by sending a notification to another user in the householdor nearby vicinity. For example, if one person in a household is viewinga media asset, a notification about an oven timer and baking operationmay be sent to another person in the household so that the other personcan remove items in the oven without disturbing the media viewer.

At step 1505, control circuitry 704 for a media guidance application mayreceive status information for network-connected devices indicating anoperation occurring during media consumption activity. The statusinformation may be received by the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application while the viewer is watching media or at the timemedia is selected for viewing. The status information may include deviceand operation details, such as those shown in FIG. 3. For example,status information may show that an oven is performing a bakingoperation.

At step 1510, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may determine that an operation terminates during the mediaconsumption activity. Thus, the control circuitry 704 for the mediaguidance application may use time details from the status information(FIG. 3) along with metadata for the media asset to identify an overlapin the operation termination time and the media viewing. For example,the control circuitry 704 for the media guidance application maydetermine that an oven timer for a baking operation is due to go offbefore a media activity has completed.

At step 1515, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may determine whether the operation causes detriment to theassociated device upon termination of the operation. Detrimentalconditions may be determined based on operation procedures, such asthose shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. For example, an oven generally has acondition requiring a response and requires intervention (325 (FIG. 3),440 (FIG. 4)).

Some operations, however, do not cause a detrimental condition. Forexample, a refrigerator ice making cycle ends in a neutral condition 330(FIG. 3). For such types of benign operations, the process 1500 may endat step 1520 and nothing needs to be done to handle the operation.

However, if an operation does require a response to avoid a detrimentalcondition at the termination of the operation, at step 1520, the controlcircuitry 704 for the media guidance application may retrieve a list ofusers associated with the network-connected devices. The usersassociated with the network-connected devices, or IoT devices in ahousehold, may be identified by querying a home assistant 110 forassociated users or by requesting users from the respective devices.

In order to find a suitable user to notify about handling the operation,the control circuitry 704 for the media guidance application maydetermine at step 1530 a location of the network-connected deviceperforming the operation. For example, an oven used for baking cookiesmay be located in a kitchen, and a dryer running an anti-wrinkle cyclemay be located in a basement.

At step 1535, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may determine a location for each of the users that areassociated with the network devices. For example, there may be multiplepersons in a household and they may be scattered in different locations.User locations may be obtained using a home assistant 110 which may havean audio or video mode capable of identifying when users are in variousrooms. In other scenarios, a user may be located using a smartphoneassociated with the user.

At step 1540, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may select a user based on availability of the respectiveuser and proximity of the user with network-connected device location.For example, a user that is very close to the device may have a calendarsetting for a conference call that may indicate that the user is notavailable. In another example, a user may not have their smartphone onwhich may indicate that they are not available. In another example, ahome assistant device 110 may detect that the user is motionless and maybe sleeping, and thus, not available. Availability and proximity to thedevice location may be a basis for selecting a user to notify of theinterruption event.

At step 1550, the control circuitry 704 for the media guidanceapplication may send a notification to the selected user ofnetwork-connected device operation so that the selected user canintervene when the operation has finished. Notifications to the user maybe sent to a user's smartphone or other display device associated withthe user as a text message or electronic message. If the selected userhas a home assistant 110 nearby, the home assistant may display a screennotification or provide an audio message about the operation.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 15 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 15 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped oromitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any ofthe devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 7-8 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 15.

The processes discussed above are intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of theprocesses discussed herein may be omitted, modified, combined, and/orrearranged, and any additional steps may be performed without departingfrom the scope of the invention. More generally, the above disclosure ismeant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only the claims that follow aremeant to set bounds as to what the present invention includes.Furthermore, it should be noted that the features and limitationsdescribed in any one embodiment may be applied to any other embodimentherein, and flowcharts or examples relating to one embodiment may becombined with any other embodiment in a suitable manner, done indifferent orders, or done in parallel. In addition, the systems andmethods described herein may be performed in real time. It should alsobe noted that the systems and/or methods described above may be appliedto, or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods.

1. (canceled)
 2. A method for preventing media viewing interruptions,the method comprising: receiving, at control circuitry, a notificationfrom a network-connected device in a home of a user indicating that aninterruption in a media consumption activity is imminent due to aninterruption event associated with the network-connected device; and inresponse to receiving the notification: transmitting, using the controlcircuitry, a request to the network connected device in the home of theuser for status information associated with the network-connecteddevice; sending, using the control circuitry, a query to a database ofnetwork-connected device operation procedures, the query requestinginformation associated with handling completion of an operationassociated with the interruption event; determining, using the controlcircuitry, based on the status information and the informationassociated with handling completion of the operation, whether thenetwork-connected device includes a setting that enables delaying theinterruption event; in response to the determining that thenetwork-connected device includes the setting, transmitting, using thecontrol circuitry, a command to the network-connected device to delaythe interruption event; and in response to the determining that thenetwork-connected device does not include the setting, transmitting,using the control circuitry, a notification that identifies theinterruption event to a second user.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinthe network-connected device comprises one of the group of: washingmachine, oven, dishwasher, dryer, and refrigerator.
 4. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the operation associated with the interruption eventcomprises one of the group of: cleaning, washing, heating, cooling,freezing, treating, and baking; and wherein an operation procedure foreach of the respective operation types comprises details for arespective time for the operation, interactivity, reaction, alarm,related operations, intervention, device object effects, post-operationhandling, and a threshold time for intervention following completion. 5.The method of claim 2, further comprising: in response to determiningthat the network-connected device does not include the setting,determining, using the control circuitry, based on the informationassociated with handling completion of an operation associated with theinterruption event, an event type for the interruption event;determining, using the control circuitry that the event type comprises,an event not causing detriment to the network-connected device and anobject associated with the network-connected device; and generating,using the control circuitry, a notification about the interruption eventfollowing consumption of the media.
 6. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: in response to determining that the network-connected devicedoes not include the setting, determining, with the control circuitry,based on the information associated with handling completion of theoperation associated with the interruption event and a condition of thenetwork-connected device associated with completing the operationassociated with the interruption event, that the network-connecteddevice can be powered off before the interruption event; sending, usingthe control circuitry, a query to the database of network-connecteddevice operation procedures, the query requesting information associatedwith objects associated with the network-connected device in performanceof the operation associated with the interruption event; and in responseto determining, using the control circuitry, that the objects associatedwith the network-connected device and the network-connected device arenot harmed by powering off the network-connected device before theinterruption event, transmitting, using the control circuitry, a commandto the network-connected device to power off.
 7. The method of claim 2,further comprising: in response to the determining that thenetwork-connected device does not include the setting, determining,using the control circuitry, a time for the interruption event;calculating, using the control circuitry, a time period for respondingto the interruption event, the time period based on a distance betweenthe network-connected device and the user, and a responsive action tothe interruption event; and adding, using the control circuitry, asecondary segment and a notification for display during the mediaconsumption activity at the interruption event time, the secondarysegment having a time corresponding to the time period, and thenotification alerting the user to the interruption event and a countdownclock for the time period to resume the media.
 8. The method of claim 2,further comprising: in response to determining that thenetwork-connected device does not include the setting, determining withthe control circuitry, whether a second operation is available to followthe interruption event, the second operation being performed by thenetwork-connected device without action by the user; determining, withthe control circuitry, whether the second operation will end aftercompletion of the media consumption activity; and transmitting a commandto the network-connected device to perform the second operation at theinterruption event.
 9. The method of claim 2, further comprising: inresponse to determining that the network-connected device does notinclude the setting, determining, with the control circuitry, a timeperiod remaining for the media consumption activity; determining, usingthe control circuitry, an event type for the interruption event;comparing, using the control circuitry, the time period with a thresholdtime period associated with the event type; and in response todetermining that the time period is less than the threshold time periodassociated with the event type, suppressing the interruption event,using the control circuitry, until the end of the media consumptionactivity.
 10. The method of claim 2, further comprising: in response todetermining that the network-connected device does not include thesetting, determining, with the control circuitry, a time periodremaining for the media consumption activity; determining, using thecontrol circuitry, based on metadata for the media, whether the mediaincludes a secondary segment, the secondary segment comprising mediathat is a secondary focus of the media consumption activity; anddisplaying the secondary segment at the time of the interruption event.11. The method of claim 2, further comprising: receiving, using thecontrol circuitry, from a controller associated with thenetwork-connected devices, a list of users associated with thenetwork-connected devices; and selecting, using the control circuitry,the second user from the list of users based on availability of thesecond user, the availability of the second user based on a proximity ofa device associated with the second user and the network-connecteddevice associated with the interruption event.
 12. A system forpreventing media viewing interruptions, the system comprising:input/output (I/O) interface circuitry configured to receive a userinput; and control circuitry configured to: receive a notification froma network-connected device in a home of a user indicating that aninterruption in a media consumption activity is imminent due to aninterruption event associated with the network-connected device; and inresponse to receiving the notification: transmit a request to thenetwork connected device in the home of the user for status informationassociated with the network-connected device; send a query to a databaseof network-connected device operation procedures, the query requestinginformation associated with handling completion of an operationassociated with the interruption event; determine, based on the statusinformation and the information associated with handling completion ofthe operation, whether the network-connected device includes a settingthat enables delaying the interruption event; in response to thedetermining that the network-connected device includes the setting,transmit a command to the network-connected device to delay theinterruption event; and in response to the determining that thenetwork-connected device does not include the setting, transmit anotification that identifies the interruption event to a second user.13. The system of claim 12, wherein the network-connected devicecomprises one of the group of: washing machine, oven, dishwasher, dryer,robot vacuum, thermostat, and refrigerator.
 14. The system of claim 12,wherein the operation associated with the interruption event comprisesone of the group of: cleaning, washing, heating, cooling, freezing,treating, and baking; and wherein an operation procedure for each of therespective operation types comprises details for a respective time forthe operation, interactivity, reaction, alarm, related operations,intervention, device object effects, post-operation handling, and athreshold time for intervention following completion.
 15. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: inresponse to determining that the network-connected device does notinclude the setting, determine based on the information associated withhandling completion of an operation associated with the interruptionevent an event type for the interruption event; determine that the eventtype comprises an event not causing detriment to the network-connecteddevice and an object associated with the network-connected device; andgenerate a notification about the interruption event followingconsumption of the media.
 16. The system of claim 12, wherein thecontrol circuitry is further configured to: in response to determiningthat the network-connected device does not include the setting,determine based on the information associated with handling completionof the operation associated with the interruption event and a conditionof the network-connected device associated with completing the operationassociated with the interruption event that the network-connected devicecan be powered off before the interruption event; send a query to thedatabase of network-connected device operation procedures, the queryrequesting information associated with objects associated with thenetwork-connected device in performance of the operation associated withthe interruption event; and in response to determining, using thecontrol circuitry, that the objects associated with thenetwork-connected device and the network-connected device are not harmedby powering off the network-connected device before the interruptionevent, transmit a command to the network-connected device to power off.17. The system of claim 12, wherein the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: in response to the determining that the network-connecteddevice does not include the setting, determine a time for theinterruption event; calculate a time period for responding to theinterruption event, the time period based on a distance between thenetwork-connected device and the user, and a responsive action to theinterruption event; and add a secondary segment and a notification fordisplay during the media consumption activity at the interruption eventtime, the secondary segment having a time corresponding to the timeperiod, and the notification alerting the user to the interruption eventand a countdown clock for the time period to resume the media.
 18. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the control circuitry is further configuredto: in response to determining that the network-connected device doesnot include the setting, determine whether a second operation isavailable to follow the interruption event, the second operation beingperformed by the network-connected device without action by the user;determine whether the second operation will end after completion of themedia consumption activity; and transmit a command to thenetwork-connected device to perform the second operation at theinterruption event.
 19. The system of claim 12, wherein the controlcircuitry is further configured to: in response to determining that thenetwork-connected device does not include the setting, determine a timeperiod remaining for the media consumption activity; determine an eventtype for the interruption event; compare the time period with athreshold time period associated with the event type; and in response todetermining that the time period is less than the threshold time periodassociated with the event type, suppress the interruption event untilthe end of the media consumption activity.
 20. The system of claim 12,wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: in response todetermining that the network-connected device does not include thesetting, determine a time period remaining for the media consumptionactivity; determine based on metadata for the media, whether the mediaincludes a secondary segment, the secondary segment comprising mediathat is a secondary focus of the media consumption activity; and displaythe secondary segment at the time of the interruption event.
 21. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the control circuitry is further configuredto: Receive from a controller associated with the network-connecteddevices, a list of users associated with the network-connected devices;and select the second user from the list of users based on availabilityof the second user, the availability of the second user based on aproximity of a device associated with the second user and thenetwork-connected device associated with the interruption event. 22-51.(canceled)